The Memorandum of Understanding between the CSO and the Department of Finance (PDF 1,705KB) was reviewed with an updated version signed in July 2022 by Ms. Jennifer Banim, Assistant Director General CSO, and Mr. John McCarthy, Chief Economist Department of Finance. 

The CSO and D/Fin, along with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), have a joint responsibility for reporting Government Finance Statistics (GFS) for Ireland for historic and forecast years. The EU Commission, Eurostat (Estat) and the European Central Bank (ECB), are increasing their efforts to assure the quality of GFS, including increased assurance on the robustness of systems and the upstream data. In this context, clarity with regard to the roles and responsibilities of key players in the production of GFS is very important. 

The purpose of this MoU is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of, as well as the areas of cooperation between, the CSO and D/Fin with regard to the compilation and transmission of GFS. The agreement is entered into on the understanding that it is subordinate to the relevant legislation governing each body; is limited in scope to the GFS area only; and does not cover any other areas of co-operation between CSO and D/Fin.